Is there a time to not listen? Let’s plunge into the Deeper Waters and find out.
We’re going to look at Ecclesiastes 7:19-22 today.
19 Wisdom gives strength to the wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city.
20 Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.
21 Do not take to heart all the things that people say, lest you hear your servant cursing you. 22 Your heart knows that many times you yourself have cursed others.
For the first two verses, the Teacher always seems to prefer wisdom to foolishness. On the other hand, his second sentence here could be answered, “Actually, there is.” There has only been one and the world crucified Him.
As for the last part, we have been told most of our lives to listen to others. However, there is a time when one should not listen. It is not as simple as “Never listen to your critics.” After all, the wise man will accept rebuke when it is given. We will have critics and sometimes we should listen to them.
One time to not listen would be when you have no business listening in on someone. I remember growing up seeing a device you could use to listen to things at a distance that you cannot hear easily. For some scenarios, this could work well. If you are in a church service or a classroom or anywhere where you are hearing one person and you’re just not close enough, you can listen in that way.
However, there are other times you shouldn’t be. The commercial showed a guy working out at a gym using the device to listen in on a conversation between two women where they’re talking about him and praising him as being attractive. That sounds good and can sell devices, but what if it was the other way around? You would know that they were giving their honest opinion as they have no idea that you are listening in. What do you do then?
Second, there are critics who do not know what they’re talking about. These people want to insult you just for the sake of insulting you. In ancient Greece, there were people called Sophists who would get up one day and argue for X and it would be a persuasive talk. The next day, they could get up and argue for non-X just as persuasively.
Online, there are people we all call trolls who want to just get under the skin of people and they will say things they don’t even believe. The whole purpose is just to get a rise out of people. This is a scenario where the more people react, the more that they get what they react to.
While there are no 100% clear and fast rules, I consider these valid general guidelines. Wisdom will tell you that there are times you should not listen to critics as they don’t know what they’re talking about. However, if they do not know what they’re talking about, and especially so if they care about you, listen. They may not be right, but at least consider what they say.
In Christ,
Nick Peters
(And I affirm the virgin birth)